VXA 320 Soft Read Errors

[Claudio_Cantafi]

Hello I am currently using Backup Exec 11D with a VXA 320 Tape Drive.  My backups appear to be working fine but I am getting an unusually high number of soft read and write errors.  Usually I will see most of these errors when running a verify on the job but for the most part this is happening with all my VXA tape drives. 

I also have LTO2 and LTO3 Drives and I do not encounter this issue at all.  The Tape drive is an IBM (Tandenburg) VXA 320 device. 

I would like to know is this usual for a VXA drive?  Do they usually have more Soft Read and Write errors than an LTO drive would?

I tried calling tech support but they never get back to me and when they do and I call them back I just end up waiting on hold.  If someone out there can help me I would greatly appreciate it.

Thanks

[Patty_McGowan]

Hi Claudio,

Here is a technote that I would recommend taking a look at:

http://support.veritas.com/docs/229641

Patty

[Claudio_Cantafi]

Hi Patty, thanks for that information.  Im glad to see that I am not getting and Hard errors but the soft ones still concern me.

I did what the article had suggested and I have still had no luck.  Regardless of the driver I use or the updates I do I always seem to get soft errors on my VXA-3 drives.  If it was happening on only one drive I would understand that its an isolated incident but its happening on two separate systems.

I checked the Exabyte website and downloaded the latest VXA 320 drivers as well as there utility for diagnosis.  When I run that utility it all checks out and is fine. 

Could this be something with Backup Exec?  Could the drive not be properly supported?

Thanks

[Claudio_Cantafi]

Also I wanted to add if it helps the drive I am using is an IBM (Exabyte) 39M5639 VXA 320.

[Michael_McKenne]

I get them on my Exabyte VXA-320.  I usually clean the drive and replace the tape. 

[Claudio_Cantafi]

I have done multiple cleaning tapes as well but the soft read and write errors still show up regardless of which tape drive I clean.

I have to say Im pretty dissapointed at the response from tech support.  I called almost two days ago and I got no response.  I even took a Symantec training course and decided to email my intructor and she never emailed me back even though she said I could email her anytime.

When the software works it works well but when it doesnt its hell trying to get help.  My company spent the money to buy the support and the training course I took and Symantec hasnt even tried to help.  If anyone at Symantec cares this is my case number 281-102-884.

Sorry for the rant but I know I am not the only one out there experiencing this.

Thanks

[Patty_McGowan]

Claudio,

Please check your personal messages.

Thanks.

Patty

[Michael_McKenne]

I had similar experiences with my contract support.  I spoke with management about.   Patty is active and will attempt to get you a proper solution.  

[Claudio_Cantafi]

Hello Patty, thanks for looking into all this for me I appreciate your help.

Yesterday I had a tech call me from Symantec.  He informed me that I do not need to worry about Soft Read and Write errors.  I dont know how true that is but he suggested that I contact IBM to make sure they dont have any information regarding that drive and any problems.

My Jobs are still working minus the errors so at least that part is stable.

He asked me if he could close the ticket and I said sure for now at least until I contact IBM.

I will keep you posted as to what IBM has to say.  Perhaps there is a known issue with these VXA drives.

Thanks Again

Claudio

[Claudio_Cantafi]

So far IBM hasnt really given me much information.  Im not too sure where the problem lies but I would like to ask what is an acceptable amount of soft read and write errors? 

Do they happen all the time with stand alone drives?  My robotic tape library works with no problems so thats why I would like to ask.  I get almost no soft read and write errors. 

Thank You

[Cary_Hostrawser]

I'm in the same boat with a vxa2 tape drive. The soft errors started after the tape drive was replaced by IBM in an attempt to solve a BE renaming of tapes issues. I still get the renaming problem, but not quite as bad, but the soft error numbers are crazy. hundreds of soft write errors and tens of thousands of soft read errors per back up.
Working with IBM has ran me around in circles and accomplished nothing but using all my weekends up. Working with support at Symantec hasn't gotten me much further either.
The one thing I see as the issue, is the change in firmware of the tape drive. The tools do not allow you to switch back and IBM can't get me an older firmware version to test. They also seem to refuse to work with the BE support people on this. Constantly want me to repeat the same steps that failed to solve the issue the last 4 times. Also they seem to think I should run the native NT backup as a test. NT backup does not report soft errors! you just one day find out nothing is working with no idea why.

Exabyte has a newer firmware version out for the vxa2 tape drive, but neglected to create a new vxatool that allows a person to use it.

[Claudio_Cantafi]

Just wanted to post an update.  For those of you using the IBM VXA-320 drives there is new firmware available.  Check it out.  I think it will help with the problems.

http://www-304.ibm.com/jct01004c/systems/support/supportsite.wss/docdisplay?lndocid=MIGR-5070036&brandind=5000008